The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to an oil spill containment boom and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a lightweight boom comprising geometry suitable for stabilizing the boom.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,036 A to Blair et al. titled “Inflatable floating booms” teaches an “Accordion-folding floating booms for confining spilled oil or other floating material incorporating a thin continuous flexible fin positioned vertically and provided with numerous, short, inflatable balloon-like float pockets mounted along its upper edge. The float pockets are all deflatable and collapsible for compact accordion-folded stowage of the boom in limited volumes of space for storage, shipment and delivery to the site by water transport or by airdrop. Automatic inflation of successive inflatable float pockets upon unfolding deployment of the booms is achieved by individual pressure sources actuated by the deployment process, providing inflation pressure to produce fully inflated expansion of the float pockets for buoyant floatation of the boom structure. Compressed gas charge cylinders triggered by unfolding of the boom supply the desired inflation pressure. Alternatively, chemical reactants enclosed in adjacent enclosures are mixed together upon unfolding deployment of the boom to produce sufficient amounts of gaseous reaction product to provide inflation pressures required for each buoyant balloon-like float pocket. This invention relates to accordion-folding floating booms for confining floating material such as spilled oil, and particularly to quickly deployable booms which may be stored compactly folded in small cargo volumes and which may be deployed quickly and easily by unfolding and inflating to place them into operating condition surrounding spilled oil or other floating material to be confined”.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,821A to Cain et al., titled “Lightweight, rapid deployment oil spill containment boom” teaches “An emergency, lightweight marine containment system is comprised of a containment crate in which is flatly accordion folded an uninflated boom curtain. The boom curtain is comprised of a self-inflating flotation chamber on one longitudinal edge with an integral depending curtain terminating in a self-inflating ballast chamber on the opposing longitudinal edge. The flotation chamber is inflated by gas and the ballast chamber is inflated by the water or sea water into which the boom curtain is disposed. The boom curtain is made of lightweight single-ply or multiple-ply sheet material”.